Summit (AIM: SUMM), a UK drug discovery company,
today announced that it has successfully passed a milestone in the Phase 1
trial
of SMT C1100 for the treatment of the fatal genetic disease Duchenne
Muscular
Dystrophy ('DMD'), which triggered the final payment from a $1.5 million
funding
agreement with US-based DMD organisations.

SMT C1100, an oral small molecule compound, is a potential
disease-modifying
drug that works by increasing, or upregulating, the amount of a naturally
occurring protein called utrophin. The Phase 1 dose-escalation study in
healthy
volunteers was initiated in May 2012 and will now progress to the stage
where
participants receive multiple doses. Results from the trial are expected
by the
end of this year.

The Phase 1 trial is being supported by a group of US-based DMD
organisations:
the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Charley's Fund, Cure Duchenne, the
Foundation to Eradicate Duchenne, Nash Avery Foundation and Parent Project
Muscular Dystrophy.

"We are grateful for the continuing support from the DMD organisations as
we
make significant progress in the Phase 1 trial of SMT C1100," said Glyn
Edwards,
Chief Executive Officer of Summit. "The funding will enable completion of
the
Phase 1 trial this year, after which we will seek an appropriate partner to
advance SMT C1100 through proof-of-concept studies to ultimately bring this
potential breakthrough therapy to patients with DMD."

The Company will be available for partnering discussions at the BIO
International Convention June 18-21, 2012, in Boston, MA. In addition,
Summit
will present at the Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy Annual Connect
Conference
June 28-July 1, 2012, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

SMT C1100 is designed to upregulate and maintain the production of
utrophin.
Utrophin is a protein that is highly expressed in regenerating muscle, but
decreases as the muscle fibre matures and is eventually replaced by
dystrophin,
a protein that maintains the integrity and healthy function of muscles.
Patients with DMD are unable to make dystrophin, resulting in muscle fibre
degeneration. However, if utrophin is continually expressed in the mature
muscle fibre, it can replace the function of dystrophin and thereby
overcome the
deficit in patients with DMD.

This approach is expected to be a universal treatment for all DMD patients
regardless of whether the disease was caused by an inherited or spontaneous
genetic mutation. Summit has demonstrated in non-clinical efficacy studies
that
SMT C1100 is capable of increasing utrophin to restore and maintain the
healthy
function of muscles.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a fatal genetic neuromuscular disorder that
affects 1 in 3,500 boys with an estimated patient population of 50,000 in
the
developed world. The disease is caused by defects in the gene required to
make
dystrophin, a protein, which maintains the integrity and healthy function
of
muscles. One in three new cases are due to a spontaneous mutation where
there
is no familial history of the disease. The progressive muscle wasting
begins in
early childhood and typically leads to death in the twenties due to cardiac
and
respiratory failure. Currently there is no cure for the disease.

About Utrophin Upregulation

Utrophin is a naturally occurring protein that has a similar function to
dystrophin. Utrophin is produced during foetal muscle development but is
switched off in mature muscle fibres. If its production could be switched
back
on, utrophin could act as a substitute for the missing dystrophin to
maintain
the healthy function of muscles. One method of turning utrophin production
back
on is through pharmacological means. Utrophin upregulation will be
beneficial
to all DMD patients regardless of their specific genetic mutation and is
also
expected to be complimentary to other therapeutic approaches in
development.

About SMT C1100

Discovered and developed by scientists at Summit, SMT C1100 has
demonstrated its
potential as a disease-modifying drug in non-clinical efficacy studies.
SMT
C1100 disengages normal utrophin control such that utrophin RNA and protein
is
made continually in muscle. It has received orphan drug designation in the
US
and Europe.

About MDA Venture Philanthropy (MVP)

MVP is the Muscular Dystrophy Association's drug development program, which
operates within MDA's translational research program. MVP is exclusively
focused on funding the discovery and clinical application of treatments and
cures for neuromuscular diseases. For more information, visit mda.org and
follow MDA on Facebook (facebook.com/MDANational) and Twitter (@MDAnews).

Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD) is a national not-for-profit
organization founded in 1994 by parents of children with Duchenne and
Becker
muscular dystrophy. Our mission is to end Duchenne. We accelerate
research,
raise our voices in Washington, demand optimal care for all young men, and
educate the global community. PPMD is headquartered in Middletown, Ohio
with
offices in Fort Lee, New Jersey. For more information, visit
www.ParentProjectMD.org.

About Summit

Summit is an Oxford, UK based drug discovery Company with an innovative
Seglin™ technology platform for the discovery of new medicines and a
portfolio of drug programme assets. Summit's programme portfolio consists
of a
number of drug programmes targeting high-value areas of unmet medical need
including Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and C. difficile infection. Summit
is
listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange and trades under the
ticker symbol SUMM. Further information is available at www.summitplc.com.

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